Virginia Gov Invents Position For Cultist Coal Lobbyist

The Washington Post reports:

Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week created a new office designed to slash state regulations and put it under the direction of Andrew Wheeler [photo], the former Trump administration official rejected earlier this year for the Virginia governor’s Cabinet.

Youngkin (R) used an executive order to create the Office of Regulatory Management and chose Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who led a rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations as former president Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief, to lead it, the governor’s office announced Thursday night.

The announcement drew sharp criticism from General Assembly Democrats, who blocked Youngkin’s efforts to install Wheeler as his secretary of natural and historic resources. Wheeler will not need the legislature’s approval for this post.

Read the full article.

Before becoming Trump’s EPA chief, Andrew Wheeler was a lobbyist for coal producer Murray Energy, which is wholly-owned by a major Trump donor. He last appeared on JMG in June 2020 when he dropped regulations on methane emissions. In 2019, he helped engineer Trump’s threat to California’s highway funding over the state’s compliance with the Clean Air Act.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week created a new office designed to slash state regulations and put it under the direction of Andrew Wheeler, the former Trump administration official rejected earlier this year for the Virginia governor’s Cabinet.https://t.co/V71K6I5Op8

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 1, 2022